Light in the dark

After a day, the young Anastasia was let out of the solitary cell room, she had gone completely quiet in fear—fear of the darkness that had enveloped and kept her company since she had arrived. Though she had spent only a day there, it felt longer than that.

"Quicken your footsteps. I have other things to do," the maid who had come to fetch Anastasia said to the little girl.

Though Anastasia had spent hours being alone in the dark, she had not forgotten about her family. Her big brown eyes looked around the new place, noticing the corridor's ceiling that was as high as the sky, while the walls were dark and cold.

The little girl followed the maid, turning her head left and right, even back. She asked in her soft voice,

"Where is Mary?"

But the maid didn't hear Anastasia.

"Mari..…" the young girl's lips moved, but her voice didn't come out of it.

The maid took Anastasia through the side corridors before bringing her to a wide room, which was the kitchen in the backside of the huge palace, where she met a few more servants of the royal family. Her eyes then fell on the lean man whom she had seen before being locked in the dark room.

"Mr. Gilbert, I brought the girl," the maid offered a bow to Mr. Gilbert. She asked hesitantly, "This time the traders brought young girls in, didn't they, sire? This one seems to be the youngest."

Mr. Gilbert's narrowed eyes briefly looked at the little girl, and this had the little girl to hide behind the maid. He said, "The minister believes that the servants and the courtesans will be well trained with their duties ingrained to their bones if they learn it from a young age. Have her bathed and fed. I will leave her to you, Theresa."

"Yes, Mr. Gilbert," the maid bowed.

Anastasia looked around the big kitchen in which she stood right now, with servants working or walking, laughing quietly as they spoke. The smell of food wafted in the air, and her stomach grumbled.

Once Mr. Gilbert left, the maid watched the little girl. She said, "I am Theresa Kanatas. What is your name?"

"Anna," then the little girl shook her head and said, "Anastasia F—Flore."

Theresa nodded, "Alright. Let us get you cleaned up, but before that," she looked around before walking near a table and grabbing a cold bun made in the morning. She returned to the little girl and handed it to her, "Go on, take it. You must be hungry."

Anastasia was quick to snatch the bun from the maid's hand, and she started to eat it as she was hungry.

A few days passed and one evening, Anastasia carried the lantern in her hand, while accompanying the woman named Theresa, who carried a basket of bedsheets. It was then that the little girl's eyes fell on the other tower which had big glass windows. But it wasn't the glass windows that caught her attention, but her sister Marianne, who now walked behind some women.

Unlike Anastasia, who wore clothes that belonged to the lower servants which were dull in appearance, Marianne was dressed in the finest dress, which was clean and bright. The elder Flores's daughter's hair was combed and let down, while the younger one's hair, who was used to being doted on by her parents and her older sister, who had always combed and untangled her hair, was left in a mess. And though dressed and kept well, Marianne's eyes held sadness.

Theresa was advising by saying, "... sure that you don't enter the corridors that are on the inner side. You see my uniform? Only we can go in there, while the others…" Her voice faded into the background as the little girl didn't pay attention to it.

The young Anastasia didn't notice the difference in their clothes. She smiled wide at the sight of her sister, and she shouted her sister's name in excitement,

"MARIANNE!"

Theresa's body jerked in surprise as she hadn't expected this quiet child to shout suddenly.

"MARY, I AM HERE! MARY!"

But Marianne couldn't hear her because of the distance and the walls between them. Anastasia didn't give up, dropping the lantern on the ground as nothing seemed more important than meeting her sister now, "MARIAN—"

"What do you think you are doing?!" Theresa questioned in alarm by holding the little girl's shoulder. This was no place to be screaming and shouting. "Stay quiet and follow me," she said curtly.

Anastasia watched her sister as she continued to walk and disappeared behind the tower's spiral staircase. Despair filled her eyes, and she turned to look at the corridor connected to the palace's other side.

"Don't even think about it," Theresa warned Anastasia, when the little girl tried to take a step towards the corridor the lower servants weren't allowed to place their foot in.

With her sister close by, young Anastasia didn't think twice, and she jerked forward before dashing through the corridor, her little feet moving quickly. The maid who was with her, had the woman's eyes widened. She quickly ran behind the little girl to stop her.

"Get back here right this instant, girl!" Theresa warned Anastasia. "You are going to get us in trouble!"

The corridor's marble floor had a long and endless carpet, on which Anastasia ran. She took a sharp turn to the left, believing it was the path that would lead her to her sister.

But just when Anastasia took a turn, it took her two seconds to crash into something soft before she fell backwards on the floor.

"What is going on here?" A strong voice that belonged to a woman questioned which was laced with displeasure, and when Anastasia raised her head, her eyes fell on a woman who wore fine clothes. Finer than the little girl's eyes had ever laid upon.

The lady was none other than Versallies's King's wife, Lady Sophia Blackthorn. She wasn't a queen because the King's mother was still alive and held power in her hands. The lady wore a royal blue dress that flowed down from her waist, with small golden beads working below the skirt of the dress. Her blonde hair was tied at the back, while some were pinned, a few were curled and were made to rest on one side of her shoulder. Diamond earrings hung in her ears, and for a moment, Anastasia was in awe.

Behind the lady stood Mr. Gilbert, who held a troubled expression now.

The maid who caught up with her heart almost slipped from her chest. She quickly bowed as deep as her body would allow her, "Forgive me, Lady Sophia! She's a newly arrived servant, and hasn't learned the rules well!"

On noticing Anastasia rudely staring at Lady Sophia, Theresa quickly pushed the little girl's head downward so she would not die young for her lack of manners.

Lady Sophia looked down at the lowly servants and stated, "I didn't know that you were appointing children to work, Norrix. Less one who doesn't know or understand the rules of the palace."

Mr. Gilbert quickly bowed and assured her, "I will be sure to reprimand and teach the girl about it, milady. As she is new, there wasn't enough time—"

"I didn't ask for a reason," Lady Sophia said sternly to him.

Suddenly they heard the small girl sob, with her body shaking, and the two servants could only pray to be spared. Lady Sophia said, "Raise your head, girl."

Anastasia did as she was told with tears smearing her face, begging, "I—I want to go to my sister. I want to go h—home."

"Listen here carefully," Lady Sophia said to Anastasia in a calm and polite voice, "Since you stepped into this palace, this is your home and you belong to the family of Blackthorn now. It would be wise for you to forget about everything else and work hard here. You will be serving in the palace, consider it to be an opportunity," she offered a slight smile before walking past Anastasia and the maid, with Mr. Gilbert following her.

Mr. Gilbert wondered if Lady Sophia was in a good mood today, which was why she hadn't—

"Send the girl to the solitary room until she learns." There it was, Mr. Gilbert thought as Lady Sophia ordered him. As they walked, Lady Sophia said, "There's fire in there that needs to be extinguished. Don't leave even a spark, because a spark can burn down the entire forest and we don't want that."

"Yes, milady. Consider it to be done," Mr. Gilbert replied.

By the time of night, Anastasia was back in the solitary room, who shouted and cried for help until her throat hurt. And even though her sister Marianne was in the same palace, she didn't know what was happening to her younger sister.

Mr. Gilbert ordered the maid named Theresa to take food to Anastasia's solitary room. She walked with a burning lantern in her hand. On coming to the place where the solitary rooms were located, the guard stopped her by saying,

"No food is supposed to be brought to the offenders in the solitary room, Theresa."

"Mr. Gilbert was the one who ordered me to give her food. She's a child," Theresa replied to the guard, who first looked at her with suspicion. "You can confirm with him if you want."

"That won't be required," the guard said, then unlocked the door where Anastasia was held.

When the maid stepped inside, the guard closed the door. Theresa raised the burning lantern and found the girl sitting in one corner of the room, with her knees pulled closed to her chest.

"Oh dear, what did you do to your hands?!" Theresa exclaimed in shock when her eyes fell on the little girl's chipped and bleeding fingernails. She quickly took out her handkerchief and tied it around the girl's hand. "Anastasia?" She called the girl's name, who didn't respond to her.

Theresa turned back to look at the closed door and heard the receding footsteps of the guard. She returned her gaze to the little girl and shook her small shoulders before saying, "Listen to me, Anastasia, and hear me well. Just like you, I was brought in here as a slave, but when I was older. I know it is difficult to understand, but there's no escaping these walls. If you try to reach out to your sister, it will only cause you and your sister trouble."

Anastasia finally looked at the woman before her. Her lips trembled, and quiet tears fell from her eyes.

"You don't want to cost her life with your actions, do you?" The maid asked her in a whisper and then said, "This is our life, and the sooner you accept it, the less you will be punished. And these dark walls are nothing in front of the worst that you haven't seen yet. If you work hard enough, you can reach my level, or maybe Mr. Gilbert's. And every time you move up in the ranks of the servants, you will have benefits and gifts, which you will cherish."

Theresa opened the container in which she had brought the food, which was prepared for the servants. It was yesterday's porridge. She gave it to the girl to eat and then said,

"If the people are pleased with your work, the servants get to accompany and help the Queen or the King, or the prince or princesses. They get rewarded. Some get to manage other lower servants. Some get to go out in the market…"

'… go out…' Back home with her sister and parents…

Before leaving the solitary room, Theresa asked, "Did you understand what I said?"

Anastasia nodded without uttering a word. The maid was satisfied, not realising that when she explained the benefits of servants from different standings, she had sparked Anastasia's hope that was dying in these closed walls.